Mind control? Brain controls brain in new demonstration

Researcher moves another researcher’s finger with his mind

Researchers at the University of Washington have demonstrated what they say is the first example of a noninvasive human-to-human brain interface. In a video posted online, they show how a scientist could control another scientist's hand motions just by using brain signals sent over the Internet. Rajesh Rao, left, send brain signals to Andrea Stocco, right, in a different laboratory.
University of Washington

Every so often, you see something that makes you think: The future is here.

Researchers at the University of Washington have demonstrated what they say is the first example of a noninvasive human-to-human brain interface. In a video posted online, they show how a scientist could control another scientist’s hand motions just by using brain signals sent over the Internet.

The two participants in this demonstration were the scientists themselves, Rajesh Rao and Andrea Stocco. They were situated on different parts of the University of Washington’s campus when Stocco’s finger moved on a keyboard, controlled by Rao’s brain signal.

An ethical review board gave the two of them specifically — and no one else — permission to try it out, Stocco said.

“So far, we are the only human beings whose brains are being connected,” said Stocco, a research assistant professor at the university’s Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences.

They have now done several trials of this brain communication in their unpublished pilot study and hope to expand it.

How they did it

Rao wore a cap with electrodes that were connected to an electroencephalography machine, a contraption that reads electrical activity from the brain. Rao played a video game without using his hands, just using his mind. By imagining moving his right hand, he could move a cursor on the computer screen to click “fire,” in order to fire a cannon at a target. The goal of the game is to hit rockets fired by pirate ships and avoid hitting supply planes.

Meanwhile, in Stocco’s lab across campus, Stocco wore a purple swim cap. A transcranial magnetic stimulation coil was placed over his left motor cortex, the part of the brain that controls hand movement.

The electrical activity of Rao’s brain was read by the electroencephalography machine, which then sent signals over the Internet to Stocco’s brain by way of the transcranial magnetic stimulation coil. The signal activated the neurons that prompted Stocco’s right hand to move.

Because of this connection, Rao’s thinking about moving the cursor almost simultaneously caused Stocco to press the space bar of his own keyboard with his right index finger.

The first time, says Stocco, “I didn’t know precisely if my hand moved because actually I got the signal from the machine or if I was twitching.”

“I never twitch, so I was pretty sure that it was the signal, so I felt happy.”

Caveats

This all sounds futuristic and spacey. But wait — this isn’t published in a peer-reviewed journal, which is the gold standard for scientific results, says Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, professor of neuroscience at Duke University, who has pioneered brain-computer and brain-brain interface techniques.

Stocco said he and Rao plan on submitting their results to journals, but wanted to get the word out quickly after they had evidence of their success.

The absence of choice in this situation makes it less impressive from a scientific standpoint, Nicolelis said. The same effect could have been achieved by a cell phone or a computer triggering the involuntarily movement.